Overly aggresive fish

[gsxrated98]

Question everyone. I have a 20gal tank. I have 6barb fish(3 green/3 stripe), and 2Salt and Pepper cat fish. All estimated to get to approximately 3 inches.
Today, all of a sudden one of the tiger barbs, has become very aggressive. Chasing everything in the tank except the cats.

Obviously, you can't put a fish on timeout. Is there anything people can recommend? It's to the point where the other two tiger barbs are hiding in corners of the tank to keep away.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Oceangirl]

Welcome to Tiger barbs! They are known for that kind of thing! I suggest you check the sex of it. Most likely a male. Check for a BRIGHT red nose? is it there? If so,male. No red, female. Did you add them all at once? Do you have plants? Driftwood? Things to break up the tank, but leave space for them to swim? My suggestion is to plant the tank, When you go to do this. Take all your barbs out, then arrange the tank to your liking. Then, turn the light out, and stick everyone back in. TADA! they think they have moved to a new tank, and will establish a hierarchy. If the nipping gets too bad, turn the light off and rearrange. Is this a 20 long or a 20 high? Barbs get 3 inches and need lots of room. You may need to upgrade to a 29 atleast. they need a lot of room to dart, and may feel cramped which will lead to aggression. I looked into Barbs and the minimum that seem to keep them happy and everyone else was 29 gallon. They need that length to run! Like 2 year olds on pixie sticks!

 

[Fishanatic]

Usually, the temperature affects its attitude.

 

[gsxrated98]

Thanks Girl. They were all put in at the same time, minus the cats. The tank is a 24Lx13Dx17H, so I guess thats a long tank. All the barns range right now from an inch, to an inch and a half. I do have a few plants and thing in there to break it up, but I'm not sure I have enough.
Before you replied I turned the light out in the tank, and it calmed things down, and they all schooled back up. I'm going to post a pic of the tank, to give an Idea of what I have in it. The tank is only 2 weeks old.

 

[Oceangirl]

Try adding a few Really tall plants, that how I keep aggression down in my Danio tank. They chase and lose each other in the plant, or the fish forgets which fish its chasing! Petsmart has big fake ones that are cheap and look really nice in your tank. I have a few while waiting for my real ones to take off.

You actually have a 20 tall, a 20 long would be 30.3x 12.5x12.8. Any way to upgrade in the near future? a 20 long is the same length as a 29 gallon, just taller. Its very funny to watch short me, change water on my 29 set on a counter.

 

[gsxrated98]

Thanks for the advice Girl. I went out today and picked up some new/fake plant life for the tank and put it in. I'll wait a few days, and see if this helps any. Its very strange, 5 of the barbs are very cool with each other, its just the one that's being mean. Everyone in the tank seems to like the new vegetation, so I'm happy about that. It was pretty cool, when I was putting everything in, and moving things around, everyone was swimming up to my hand trying to figure out what I was doing

I'm hoping this will calm the one barb down. If not, I may be replacing him with another. Last step will be going up to a 29 tank, as I have only had this one for a few weeks.

 

[gsxrated98]

Well, adding in the fake foliage didn't help. I was planning on purchasing a side tank (10Gal) for when I do water changes, getting the water to the right temp, and for when I have sick fish and need to remove it from the main tank.

Well I picked up the second tank, and removed the aggressive fish, and the tank almost immediately calmed down. Fish stopped hiding, and everyone's getting along much better. There is still some chasing going on with all the others, but it seams to be more playful, where as the other fish was really almost attacking the others.

Another issue I've come up with now, is that the tank is getting cloudy. Over the last day to two days, its gone from pretty clear, as you can see in the pictures I posted in this thread, to cloudy. What should I test for? Nothing in the tank has really changed.

 

[GodFan]

Thanks Girl. They were all put in at the same time, minus the cats. The tank is a 24Lx13Dx17H, so I guess thats a long tank. All the barns range right now from an inch, to an inch and a half. I do have a few plants and thing in there to break it up, but I'm not sure I have enough.
Before you replied I turned the light out in the tank, and it calmed things down, and they all schooled back up. I'm going to post a pic of the tank, to give an Idea of what I have in it. The tank is only 2 weeks old.

Dude that water is clear! I thought it was an empty tank!

 

[gsxrated98]

Dude that water is clear! I thought it was an empty tank!

The picture in the post is two days old. It's gone cloudy since then.

 

[Oceangirl]

You could always test for everything Amm, Nitrate, Nitrite, does the troublemaker have a bright red nose? See if your Local Fish Store will switch that guy out for another. Try getting one similar size and NO Red nose. Did you turn the light out and take the fish out before adding the new decor and then adding them back?

 

[GodFan]

The picture in the post is two days old. It's gone cloudy since then.

Ah that stinks

 

[gsxrated98]

Here are pics of the tank currently.

The front view doesn't look as bad, but you can really see it from the side.

 

[Fishanatic]

Here are pics of the tank currently.

The front view doesn't look as bad, but you can really see it from the side.

Its just the light that's causing the cloudiness effect.

 

[GodFan]

Its just the light that's causing the cloudiness effect.

Looks sweet man

 

[gsxrated98]

@Oceangirl

#s are in.
PH 7.2
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

 

[Wiggles24]

You could be having a bacterial bloom it will cause cloudiness. It should clear up in a couple days

 

[Fishanatic]

You could be having a bacterial bloom it will cause cloudiness. It should clear up in a couple days

That doesn't look like a bacterial bloom though.

 

[gsxrated98]

Continuously reading up on these guys, and learning more and more about them, a few additional ?'s.

My tank did not go through a fishless cycle, with the tank still cycling, could this cause the added aggression?

Do barbs know the difference between each other. Does the Tiger know there are only 3 Tigers, and the other fish are 3 Green barbs? Will this keep them from schooling properly?

 

[Fishanatic]

Continuously reading up on these guys, and learning more and more about them, a few additional ?'s.

My tank did not go through a fishless cycle, with the tank still cycling, could this cause the added aggression?

Do barbs know the difference between each other. Does the Tiger know there are only 3 Tigers, and the other fish are 3 Green barbs? Will this keep them from schooling properly?

The two factors that might really increase if they're aggressive or not is they're stress(From the toxins/Cycling) and the temperature.
You need to test you're water and do water changes accordingly.

 

[Oceangirl]

They don't know the difference between a Green Bar, A regular Barb, Albino, or Blue. They don't really know they are different color.
I would do a 50% water change to get that ammonia down. The plants not really helping?
They won't ever really calm down, they are like 3 year olds on Pixie sticks
They will settle some once they figure out a hierachy. Just keep doing 50% water changes to keep on top of the toxins to keep the toxins down and you should be good to go in a couple weeks. If I was near you, I'd give you some filter pad that most likely would cycle you almost instantly.

Try adding some Live Plants, Anacharis, Hornwort, Java Fern. They will help Absorb the Nasty Toxins during the Cycle and then you can decide if to keep them. Anacharis grows quick, Absorbs Stuff and looks good. Its also cheap. Like $2.00 for a WHOLE bunch